The first harvest season of pitahaya started in Palora, the biggest producer of this fruit in the country. Producers expect to export 1 million kilos, including organic fruit, between this month and March. The fruit is sold to Asia, the European Union, and - for the third year- to the USA.
One of those sales was the first shipment of organic pitahaya for the US from the Sangay farm, in Palora. On Monday, February 11, 2019, 240 kilograms of organic pitahaya were exported to Los Angeles through the Mariscal Sucre airport in Quito.
The exotic yellow fruit was grown in a 5 000 m² greenhouse. The other producers have their plantations in the open field.
The organic pitahaya is grown in a greenhouse. A mesh protects the plants, which receive drip irrigation and natural fertilizers. "We make several formulas so that the production is 100% organic. We will send a second batch of 300 kilos organic in June and next year we will increase exports," stated Juan Guarderas, the supervisor of Sangay.
The movement of trucks and workers is intense in the farms, located in the five parishes of Palora, a canton of Morona Santiago. One can see the extensive plantations of this fruit from the road.
There are 672 producers and 1,528 hectares planted with pitahayas in this area, 664 of which are currently in production, according to data from the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock (MAG).
The Association of Producers of Pitahaya of Palora has 138 members who decided to make export themselves to avoid a decrease in the price of a kilo of fruit (between USD 3 and 4), imposed by the intermediary. In a week they can send 5,000 kilos to the US, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Spain, Germany, and the United Arab Emirates, among other countries.
